The Troll Isles
In recent times use of the name "the Dragon Isles" has been spreading, though not on maps. The Dacrians called these islands the Troll Isles, as they believed them to be the source of the troll raiders appearing from time to time. Whether trolls ever lived on the isles is unknown, but in 363 the isles were discovered to be inhabited by dragons in large numbers. Map VI-ne. Each year in early summer, when the winds are calm, adventurers flock to the harbors of Anistar and Taunenfels . They come to find and plunder the many dragon lairs located in the Troll Isles. Only the already well off get to sail, for not many ships dare to brave the reefs and the rocky straits. And if few get to sail, even fewer return. And fewer still return with loot. But enough do to keep the flow of bright-eyed young adventurers running. In the days of the Theocacry of Dacria, the isles were known as the Troll Isles because explorers had found troll villages there. At the time, trolls were considered indestructible except by fire, and the sages thought that the trolls bred and bred until one of the small isles were filled. Then the population pressure forced them to migrate on rafts or just by swimming. This, the philosophers believed, was the cause of the waves of trolls rampaging into Dacria from time to time. In 363, after the dissolving of the Dacrian Theocracy and the founding of the Ditmar Union, a single ship from an expedition to the isles came limping back into the harbor of Ditmar. A great many ships had disappeared outside the isles before that, and the expedition were sent to find out if the trolls had any naval capability. The surviving ship had bad news, trolls were scarce, but dragons were not. The sages revised their theory, dragons had settled the isles, and the trolls on rampage had simply been fleeing the dragons. For the Chinloi, this meant staying a safe distance from the isles. In 1034, the League of Cityports founded the Order of the Dragonslayers. This original order was dissolved in 1078, but replaced by a new one based in Taunenfels. To become a full member of the current order, one must have participated in slaying a dragon of each type. Naturally the Troll Isles were the obvious hunting grounds for prospective members. At first, these expeditions went relatively well, but after about 1080 it happened more often than not, that the hunters became the hunted. Three different explanations have been given to explain this fact. The first is simply that the first expeditions killed the stupid dragons and alerted the smart ones. The second stipulates a dragon society able to counter the human endeavors. According to this theory, gold and silver dragons masquerade as dragon hunters, and sail along with the expedition until the ship is getting near the shores of the Troll Isles. At that point they sabotage or destroy the ship, kill the crew or alert other dragons. The third theory maintains that if a so-called order like the Dragonslayers is evil enough to kill good dragons, why not kill humans too. In this scenario, passengers are drugged and picked off one by one as they sleep. And the compiled treasure of, say, twenty adventurers is comparable to many dragon hoards. In any case, there are seven major isles in the cluster, and the isles span about 180 miles north to south. In most languages the isles are referred to as the Dragon Isles, but the Chinloi and most Nordacrians still call them the Troll Isles.